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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I've been experimenting with putting rattles and toys in Mira's hands to see how she'll respond. At first, she didn't even seem to realize that she was holding anything. And she'd bonk herself in the face with it repeatedly which I would find hysterical. I'd start laughing which would make her smile. So whether she really enjoyed the rattle experience or just the Mommie laughing part was unclear. But now we've repeated the excercise on several occasions and she seems to be catching on. If I show her the object before I put it into her hand, then she'll track it as I slowly move it toward her and wrap her fingers around it. She'll even look at the object for a bit while holding it, but then it seems like she'll fling her hand around too fast and since her eyes can't track that fast yet, she'll lose sight of it and then it's back to acting oblivious to the whole thing. Anyway, it's something to do in the middle of the day...

Oh and I've been experimenting with her left vs right hand. It seems like she'll hold on to something longer if I put it in her right hand, so maybe she'll end up being right-handed. Is it possible to determine handedness before the baby recognizes that she even has hands???

Friday, March 27, 2009

Brian and I were the first among our friends to have a baby. Becoming a parent really puts you in a different place, mentally. So I felt like I really wanted to make some new friends who have children around Mira's age. Not that I don't still love all my kid-less friends, it's just that I want someone who I can talk to about kid stuff without worrying that I'm boring them to death.

Last Wednesday, Mira and I went to a playgroup with some other kids and their mommies. It was the first playgroup we'd ever been to. It was so nice to meet some other moms and just talk baby for a whole hour. The playgroup was probably more for me than for her, but Mira actually seemed interested in what the other kids were doing at one point. The two other kids that were there were a 15 month old boy and a 12 month old boy. The 12 month old was crawling around alot, and Mira thought that was quite interesting. And she watched and smiled as the 15 month old modeled a straw hat for us.

The playgroup took place at another mommie's house. I couldn't help but admire how kid-proofed her house was. And there were bins of toys all about where kids could easily access them. She had a great variety of toys, too, with different textures and colors and development levels. When I asked her about some of the cooler toys, she said that they were rented from a local family store. How cool is that? Everyone knows that kids get tired of the same old toys. Renting them seems like the perfect solution. Right now the only interest Mira shows in toys is just to look at them, but maybe once she starts actively playing I'll go and rent some toys from there myself. (The store is Family Connections here in Austin, in case anyone reading this is interested.)

First thing in the mornings, Mira is always in such a good mood. When I come into her room to get her out of her crib, even if she is crying all I have to do is say, "Good morning, Mira" and she gives me this great big smile and I think to myself, "I never want to forget this ever." So I've recorded her waking up a couple of times in order to preserve the memory. Here are a couple of cute ones:

Monday, March 23, 2009

On Friday, Mira went to the doctor for her 2 month check up. While there, she got 6 vaccines: 5 shots and one given orally. Yikes! Poor gal. After going through that experience, I can see why vaccines get a bad rap from lots of parents. Mira had been so cute and sweet to everyone at the doctor's office, smiling and cooing and being the most adorable thing on the planet, and how did she get repaid??? The nurse stabbed her repeatedly in the leg, that's how!!! As a parent, there's some visceral response to this: your guts just cry out "This is wrong! Don't do this to my baby!" I had to remind myself that this was for her own good. I think I even said out loud, "It's better than getting Polio, Mira." And then over the next two days she got a bruise on her leg, had a hard time sleeping, ran a mild fever, and was generally fussy. It's no wonder that some parents use excuses to try to get out of vaccinating their kids. Mumbo jumbo like: "Vaccines have mercury." (Actually, it's thimerosal, a derivative of mercury that, unlike mercury, can be metabolized normally and is used to preserve the vaccine and prevent Staphylococcus infection.) Or "Vaccines cause autism." (There's no scientifically founded evidence of this. The one study that has ever made this claim was since disreputed and shown to be biased.) Or "Vaccines make kids sick." (Usually the slight fever that people get after a vaccination is simply a slight allergic reaction to the vaccine, rather than an actual illness. And I'd much rather my child have a mild fever and be achy and fussy than to contract, oh say, Diptheria or Pertussis.)

So my logical mind knows that vaccinating my children is the best thing to do. I'm a strong advocate of vaccines. I'll probably even get Mira vaccinated against chicken pox, which is one vaccine that is considered to be optional. But I was surprised to find that even *my* mommy bone seemed to be making a different argument.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Monday, March 9, 2009

Before Mira was about 2 weeks old, she really was not a fan of taking baths. She used to fuss the entire time. But as she gets older, she is starting to enjoy bath time. Our routine is now for Daddy to give her a bath every night before bed. Brian does a great job with this, and it's nice for me to be able to take a little 10 minute break while he bathes her. Here are some bath time pictures. All the indecent parts are covered to protect the privacy of the parties involved. After all, it's every girl's nightmare to have nude pictures of you get posted on the internet...

Welcome!

Hello family and friends. Welcome to our blog. When Brian and I decided we were ready to start having children, we wanted a way to document our upcoming experiences as new parents, and that is what this site is intended to do. You will be able to get updates, read stories, and (most importantly) see pictures as our family grows. Thanks for visiting us, and we look forward to your comments.